Hundreds of schools in at least 10 states are getting into the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) craze. The videogame, which has taken arcades and home consoles by storm, is seen as a good workout. Physical Education (a.k.a., gym) classes put students through the rigors–and fun–of pressing arrows with their feet in time with the music.

Educators are incorporating DDR into curricula as part of a general move toward less competitive activities. They feel these less skill-based activities work better for kids who might not be great at hitting a lay-up or catching a kickball.

I'm all for introducing videogames into school curricula. Plus, I hope that as parents see videogames as a good thing they'll stop associating them only with violence.

A cure for the Straight White Male Dance?(1:10pm EST Mon Apr 30 2007)As a long-term victim of Straight White Male Dancing Syndrome (SWMDS), I'm all for anything that can help the children.

Dancing should be more than a semi-shuffle with exaggerated hand movments it's too late for me, but if it can save one other young, straight, white male the agony of SWMDS, it's worth pursuing. – by Hodar

Obivously Not Working Here In Oklahoma(10:34pm EST Mon Apr 30 2007)60% of the people here are so fat they can't reach their asses to wipe. – by baibbas

DDR(12:38am EST Tue May 01 2007)is good, but DDRII is lower in fat, now if you really want to go lower your cholesterol, try a big plate of SDRAM, and avoid NAND – by Doh

Bloody hell(3:47am EST Tue May 01 2007)Stop feeding the kids burgers and make them play football, or football or football (Soccer, American Football, Australian Football).

Competition is great, as it gives people something to aim for and weeds out the weak. – by A_Brit

Football(7:36am EST Tue May 01 2007)is for beer swilling morons who are at the shallow end of the gene pool…the same people that join the NRA and that can't seem to be non violent. – by Doh

Competitiveness(10:59am EST Tue May 01 2007)A healthy dose of competition is a great thing to instill in a child. Why is is 'bad' for kids to want to do better and stand out from the crowd? That said, I'm for anything that gets kids excited about exercising.

Like Buddy (aka Syndrome) said in the movie “The Incredibles”: “If everyone's super, then NO ONE is super.” – by Jarink

Jarink(11:43am EST Tue May 01 2007)it's not, except when parents compete through their kids, and when they don't know when to stop, or be unconditional about their praise, or how to be sportsmen and instill that in their kids. Instead too many parents are hotheaded sports junkies who can't get enough. Perhaps you see them screaming and getting pissed when their team loses. That is the problem with sports…it's no longer “just” a sport – by Doh

that said,(11:44am EST Tue May 01 2007)there is nothing wrong with sports themselves, it's good to get outside….– by Doh